Democrats set debate schedule

The first debate for the Democratic Party’s 2016 presidential contenders will take place October 13 in Nevada and be hosted by CNN, the Democratic National Committee announced Thursday, just hours before Republican hopefuls face off on stage for the first time in Cleveland.

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The announcement ends weeks of speculation about the schedule, but it is unlikely to stop the grumbling from some Democratic White House aspirants; it took just minutes for one campaign to blast out a press release expressing irritation.

A total of six debates are scheduled, with six different sponsors: Oct. 13 in Nevada (hosted by CNN); Nov. 14 in Des Moines, Iowa (CBS/KCCI and The Des Moines Register); Dec. 19 in Manchester, New Hampshire (ABC/WMUR); Jan. 17 in Charleston, South Carolina (NBC/Congressional Black Caucus Institute); and two scheduled for either February or March in Miami, Florida, and Wisconsin, hosted by Univision/The Washington Post and PBS, respectively. The DNC said it would release additional details about debate dates, locations and partnerships soon.

The lineup itself does not come as a surprise for Democrats, but for the candidates who wanted more debates to come sooner, the fact that only four will occur before the Iowa caucuses in February is a disappointment.

“These six debates will not only give caucus goers and primary voters ample opportunity to hear from our candidates about their vision for our country’s future, they will highlight the clear contrast between the values of the Democratic Party which is focused on strengthening the middle class versus Republicans who want to pursue out-of-touch and out-of-date policies,” DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz said in a statement.

The party first announced in May that it would host six debates involving the candidates, a pack that’s now made up of front-runner and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb, and former Rhode Island Sen. and Gov. Lincoln Chafee.

Vice President Joe Biden’s chief of staff has also been included on communications from the DNC about debate planning, but the Biden team has yet to chime in as Biden weighs his options.

The DNC said on Thursday that to qualify for a debate, candidates must get at least 1 percent in three credible national polls within the six weeks before the debate — a threshold that could make Webb, Chafee, and O’Malley’s camps nervous.

Campaigns started griping about the plan soon after the party committee announced it three months ago — the Sanders and O’Malley camps publicly said they wanted more than six debates, while Clinton’s team initially lobbied for even fewer.

In the intervening months, some of the complaints burst into the open. The Clinton camp has stayed quiet, but Sanders sent a letter to Wasserman Schultz in June asking for more events, sooner — including some that involve Republicans — and O’Malley railed against the process while campaigning in Iowa on Wednesday.

“To those in Washington who think they can limit the number of debates that we’re going to have before the Iowa caucuses, can circle the wagons and close off debates: I think they’re going to have another thing coming when they talk to the people of Iowa,” the Marylander said in Cedar Rapids, telling The Hill newspaper that he had personally complained to Wasserman Schultz last week.

O’Malley’s campaign went further on Thursday morning, when chief strategist Bill Hyers circulated a statement accusing the DNC of making the process “less democratic” by limiting the number of debates. The campaign then sent out a fundraising email to its supporters carrying a similar message within minutes.

A few hours later, Sanders chimed in: “I am disappointed, but not surprised, by the debate schedule announced by the Democratic National Committee,” he said. “At a time when many Americans are demoralized about politics and have given up on the political process, I think it’s imperative that we have as many debates as possible — certainly more than six.”

Webb’s team, meanwhile, told POLITICO that it wanted more debates in Iowa and New Hampshire.

“All we know is we will show up for as many debates as they want to do,” spokesman Craig Crawford said on Wednesday.

Chances for all the candidates to appear in the same place at the same time have been few and far between. They all appeared together at the Iowa Democrats’ Hall of Fame Dinner in July, and all are expected at the DNC meeting in Minneapolis later this month, but other gatherings have seen at least one of them miss out.

Clinton, for example, is the only contender not in Altoona, Iowa, for the Iowa Federation of Labor meeting Thursday, and Webb will miss the Iowa Democratic Wing Ding in Clear Lake next week.